Ten short stories, some funny, some more serious, but all featuring Wrede's clever and engaging writing. I reread this to see which books would work best for reading to a group of 3rd-5th graders, and found two that did ("The Princess, the Cat, and the Unicorn" and "The Sixty-Two Curses of Caliph Arenschadd"). But, you know, I had to read the whole collection, just to be sure... ( )

A mixed collection of modern and fairytale stories, concluding with "Utensile Strength," in which Queen Cimorene and King Mendenbar of the Enchanted Forest hold a contest to see who can wield the Frying Pan of Doom.

Quick After-Battle Triple Chocolate Cake (recipe, p. 224-226)

Quotes

Now, Rikiki had been at the meeting....But Rikiki is a blue chipmunk, and chipmunks do not have long memories. Furthermore, they are insatiably curious. (Rikiki and the Wizard, 3)

Princess Elyssa and her sisters lived in the tiny, comfortable kingdom of Oslett, where nothing ever seemed to go quite the way it was supposed to. (The Princess, the Cat, and the Unicorn, 9)

It is the price I must pay for saying what I know. And if I have learned anything from this, I have learned that it is not enough to see. One must speak out as well. (Cruel Sisters, 202) ( )

Delightful. A set of fairy tales, some new, some imagined, in which cleverness is not limited by age or gender or magical ability or even the border of death, and in which courage and nobility are similarly free. Probably recommended for middle grade readers but a charming interlude for anyone, I should think. ( )

After finishing [book: Talking to Dragons] it only seemed right that I turn to the [book: Book of Enchantments]. I remember very clearly my initial excitement at picking up this collection up when I found it in the library. I was knee deep into fantasy as a kid, and this book tickled that sensibility well with "Utensil Strength" and "The Sixty Two Curses of Caliph Arenschadd" and, of course, the first story. Some of the other stories, though, such as "Cruel Sisters," "Roses By Moonlight," and "Stronger Than Time" were lost on me at a young age. It seems only fitting how thoroughly I adored those stories on this read through.

This is more firmly YA than a children's collection, if only because a few of the stories have more mature themes than the bulk of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. "Roses By Moonlight," for instance, deals with the repercussions of not considering another person's point of view. "Stronger Than Time" considers what might befall a kingdom if a Prince was too hasty in his attempts to break a curse, and "Cruel Sisters"... well. Some conflicts you need to speak up about.

This is a great collection. It's good as a stepping stone towards more serious fiction, and seems to showcase [author: Patricia C. Wrede]'s writing far better than, say, [book: Talking With Dragons] tended to. The ending Author's Note in which she addresses the myriad of ways she comes across her ideas is also enlightening, especially to a young aspiring author.

Getting ideas is the easy part, it's writing them down that's difficult... ( )

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com by express permission of this reviewer   Synopsis A collection of 10 short stories by Patricia Wrede. Most were written for other anthologies but she gathered them all together and added 1 or 2 new ones and made them into a book.   My Thoughts I have a real awkward relationship with books of short stories. On one hand, I love the idea. A whole book of boiled down, stripped to the raw, quintessence of ideas. On the other hand, it rarely seems to be done right and most authors seem to throw their favorite ideas into it without the work.  And then you get the dreaded "loved 1 or 2 of them, but the rest were trash" syndrome.   Thankfully, I loved this collection and didn't have any problems with it. To be honest too, I've enjoyed just about anything from Wrede [except her Lyra books], so I am not an unbiased reader.   This ran the gamut from silly fantasy of The Frying Pan of Doom to the sad story about an older sister who is going to start living her life, tomorrow.  One thing I really did like was that Wrede wrote an appendice like thing where she explains where each of the stories came from. I find things like that fascinating for some reason.   Highly recommended to anyone who loves Wrede's works already.   Rating: 4 of 5 Stars   Author: Patricia Wrede " ( )